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The websites of Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles are back online, the week after the two brands were officially announced as part of Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group.
On Tuesday morning, both websites appeared fully operational, although many product images are missing, and Wiggle has returned to its old orange branding.
In a press release sent out last Friday afternoon, Frasers Group confirmed reports that it had purchased the brands and intellectual property. It followed both Wiggle and Chain Reaction’s websites going down last week, after its parent company, WiggleCRC went into administration last year, towards liquidation, and with some parts of the business being taken over.
Now, both Wiggle and CRC are back online. Alongside the pair’s in-house brands such as dhb, Lifeline, and Brand X are those stocked by Frasers Group’s other shops, Evans Cycles and Sports Direct. Therefore Pinnacle and Muddy Fox are both available across the platforms, as well as Cannondale and Adidas. There is currently no evidence of Vitus, WiggleCRC’s own bike brand.
The brands and the intellectual property were purchased for less than £10 million this month, with the retailer axing almost all staff – approximately 450.
“Wiggle and Chain Reaction are well established names among riders in the UK and across Europe and the acquisition of both brands is consistent with our ambition to become the no.1 Sporting Goods retailer in Europe,” Russell Merry, the managing director of “Wheels” for Frasers Group, said in last Friday’s press release.
“It also brings with it the opportunity to work with respected partners through the highly admired, award-winning product lines that Wiggle and Chain Reaction had built. We are excited to explore partnerships with suppliers or distributors looking to expand their offering or an organisation looking to get a foothold in the market by leveraging some established names.”
Most of Wiggle’s own-brand products, like dhb, do not have product images added yet, and most are only “available from 4th April”. Meanwhile, other products from non in-house brands seem readily available. Products ordered can be collected from Evans Cycles stores, evidence of the brands already working together.
It is unclear why Wiggle has been re-branded back to its old orange logo, after a year of its new green look, but Chain Reaction Cycles appears to have kept the same branding.
Frasers Group acquired high street and online retailer Evans Cycles in 2018, for £8 million. In 2021, Evans made over 300 staff members redundant as well as adding the remaining employees to zero-hour contracts.
In 2023, Frasers Group took control of cycling retailer, ProBikeKit, and also agreed to purchase German chain SportScheck, a subsidiary of WiggleCRC’s parent company SSU.
